If you google the meaning of ‘ART’, you’ll come across several definitions. But you know, of all the definitions that I’ve come across, the one that captures the meaning most to me is: “Art is an expression of our thoughts, emotions, intuitions, and desires, but it is even more personal than that: it’s about sharing the way we experience the world, which for many is an extension of personality” – Joseph Nieters.

Today, I have the great pleasure of telling you a short story of one of the young talented artist born on the island of  on Sint Maarten. For quite some time I’ve seen her art, I’ve seen her adventure, and I’ve seen her results. But you know, that’s just it,  looking from the outside you only see the results and not the process. From what I’ve seen before, I’ve had quite a positive image of her, and from the insight I’ve gained during our interview, that image only got more positive. If I could use one word to describe this young lady I would use: INSPIRING – TALENTED – AMBITIOUS – IMPRESSIVE – DETERMINED or DREAMER. Okay, I may have gotten a little carried away, but it’s just to show that one word isn’t enough to describe this young talent and you’ll see why! So……, just who is this young talent? 

Some of you may recognize who this young lady is from the picture above and some may not. So I’d still like to reintroduce to some and introduce to others this 20 year old, soon to be 21 (she’s quite excited for the Blackjack number hahahaha), Bianca Adriana Dijkhoffz. Bianca was kind enough to give me some of her time to answer some questions and also share her journey with me. I must say, the insight she gave me on her dancing evolution over the years along with her journey was very inspirational.

To be honest, I always pictured Bianca as a baby dancing her way out of the womb. When I saw her dance, I could only think of a person being deeply obsessed and dedicated from birth. I thought of a child that was born with a dream to dance. Surprising enough, this wasn’t exactly the case with Bianca.

Apart from dancing, Bianca was very much involved in other sports and activities such as: swimming  and taekwondo. Doesn’t sound as though dancing was the clear path for her, right? You see, Bianca didn’t become a dancer because it was an “inherited passion“,  she found herself becoming a dancer more because it was an “inherited trend“.  Bianca has 2 older sisters who are both dancers, who were dancers at the time she was 5, so for her it just seemed natural to join the trend and become a dancer.

It was very surprising and unexpected to hear from Bianca how late in her life dancing became such a pivotal aspect. It wasn’t until her early teenage years that she grew a sensational passion for dancing. During her first 10 years of dancing, until she was about the age 15/ 16, Bianca danced to a different beat. She started out dancing Ballet and Jazz, and eventually as she got older her path in dance styles changed.

Bianca spent a lot of her years dancing Ballet and Jazz, which eventually changed after seeing her sister dance for one of local Talent Showdowns. Bianca’s sister scrapped the script on Bianca’s Ballet story when Bianca saw her dancing to a more modern and HipHop style. Her sister’s fluency, style, and passion inspired Bianca to explore new styles and set a new goal for herself, which was to one day be on that stage.

Not being exposed much to HipHop style dancing, Bianca spent most of her time creating new choreography and teaching herself the art of HipHop dancing. But luckily, there were other fish in the sea exploring the same waters. Bianca connected with a few friends through her journey that all had a passion for HipHop dancing and worked together to develop their craft. For Bianca, every person and every group she danced with, was a different experience and that gave her valuable insight allowing her to constantly learn and grow.

For the most of what Bianca could remember during her life, science and nature has always been 2 fields that she’s been passionate about. She always held a strong interest for psychology, social affairs, animals and plants. These interests motivated her to pursue a science career in high school. During her years in high school Bianca had her obstacles. School didn’t always go as Bianca hoped or planned and that led to some stressful times for her, times where she questioned her future. With school not going as she hoped, Bianca began to feel demotivated. At that time, dance began to play a more significant role in her life, it became her escape. To Bianca, dancing became her life.

Art has a different meaning to everyone, and everyone has their own reason for what they do. To Bianca, dancing isn’t just a sport, it’s a passion, it’s a job, it’s an escape, it’s her zone where she can express herself and be free. Dancing is her ART!

With high aspirations, her goals became concrete and Bianca eventually decided to follow an opportunity and move to New York to pursue her dancing career.  In her transition to the NEW York scene, life was falling into place for her. Bianca was exposed to a wider scope of dance and she was learning new styles while perfecting her craft. Her motivation pushed her to new limits, new limits that got her signed to a dance agency. Bianca was where she was destined to be! But despite the fact that life was falling in place, Bianca wasn’t adjusting as she expected. Everything was changing so fast and she wasn’t adjusting well to the new atmosphere.

Bianca made incredible strides and she was getting to where she wanted to be, but she still wasn’t there as yet. Overwhelmed by the change, frustrated by the progress and missing home, she decided to move back to Sint Maarten. Although her move was a step backwards, going back home granted Bianca time to re-evaluate her life and to decide on the path she wanted to pursue. Surrounded by supportive friends, family and beautiful beaches (MulletBay to be exact), Bianca got her mind set. She took a step backwards, but she never gave up and that helped her to move forward. Full of ambition, motivation, and a clear path in sight, she returned to New York and got herself back on track to pursuing her dream. Bianca was now able to find the comfort she needed in this new atmosphere and she was able to find the strength she needed to keep moving forward. After a year and a half, driven by her passion, Bianca was able to get herself signed to the agency that she wanted and her hard work was starting to pay off!

Redhead on Tour….!       ツアーで赤毛 –  Tsuā de akage

Have you ever had a dream so unimaginable that you woke up disappointed that it was all just a dream? Can you imagine waking up from that dream and being able to continue living it FOR REAL? If you can’t, you should probably ask this young lady how it feels!

Being signed to her agency, Bianca was able to audition to be part of a dance group that would tour alongside a praised Japanese group, across Japan. At the New York location where she auditioned and competed against 40 other dancers, she kept positive and she just did what she had been training to do. She did what she loved to do, she DANCED! Apart from the 40 dancers in New York competing for the spot, there were 200 other dancers auditioning in LA to go on tour. I still don’t know how she was able to keep her composure and dance with all the pressure…..but she did. Eventually when all was done it was just a matter of waiting until the day of the results are in.

SPOILER ALERT!!

That’s right, Bianca made the cut!!

She was expecting the news via email, so you can imagine hearing notifications all week made her anxious thinking that every notification is THE email that will determine a lifetime experience. Well, one of those notifications Bianca got was exactly that. As Bianca checked her phone, she saw a notification pop up with a subject saying “CONGRATULATIONS”. O-V-E-R-W-H-E-L-M-E-D!!!! Bianca could not believe she was granted this opportunity. This was it, it was her time!

Bianca, along with the other selected dancers, danced alongside J SOUL BROTHERS (JSB GLOBAL) around Japan. She described this vividly as a life-changing experience. It was a humbling experience for her to be able to dance in front of a crowd of 50,000 people every night. And for their first time on stage being introduced by JSB, they were feeling both excited and nervous at the same time. The crowd wasn’t used to having international dancers sharing the stage with their beloved JSB, but they eventually embraced Bianca and the rest of the dancers. Bianca expressed nothing but positive vibes about the people of Japan. She said that she could never have imagined that such a huge place can be filled with so many happy, high-spirited, caring and respectful people. The people of Japan accepted them and expressed their love for them everywhere they went. As their faces began to be exposed more and more, fans began to recognize them and would approach them to say hello and take pictures. Again, “what a humbling experience” she described it as.

At the end of the tour, Bianca was able to learn so much from the Japanese culture and she was able to learn so much more about dance. During her time there she was also able to form new bonds and share her culture. An experience that has touched her for life!!!

You’d typically think that this combination of positive aspects could only equate to a FOREVER dream, but that isn’t the case here. Bianca is in love with her current phase, she loves her experience, she loves the reality of her dreams, she is living her dream! But despite it all, this isn’t the dream she wants to fall asleep to forever. Bianca is proud and loves what she does very passionately, but she knows this is not the peak of her accomplishments. For Bianca, there’s a time to dance, and her time is now. To her, dancing isn’t her purpose in life, so she has hopes and plans to pick back up where she left off and pursue her passion for science and psychology. When she’s done with dancing, Bianca wants to certify herself in 1, maybe both, of those fields and be able to work for and with people. Bianca feels her purpose is helping people, kids, animals and nature.

I must say, she has big dreams which she will accomplish. But what’s most admirable is her big heart!

In the meantime, Bianca has plans to accomplish as much as she can with dancing. She is striving to do better and to be better. Her goal for 2018 is to push her dancing even further. She is determined to be on the big stage dancing for one of the major award shows such as: AMAs, MTV awards, BET awards or even the VMAs. She is also striving to be featured in music videos and commercials showing the world her talent.

Bianca Adriana Dijkhoffz is such an inspiration to many, both young and old. She’s not inspirational only because of her results, but she’s inspirational because of her process. This young lady worked hard for where she is right now and DESERVES to be living her dreams.

Even with all the success and accomplishments, she still remembers who she is, and remembers what is important to her. She has been giving back to the community for years in any way that she can, by being part of different groups, whether it be teaching kids the art of dancing or community help. After being back home from her tour, Bianca continues to give back. She has been actively participating in giving dance lessons, sharing inspirational stories and motivating words to different kids at school and in foster homes.

Bianca’s journey is a very inspiring story. She’s 1 example of what it means to strive for your goals. We will not all follow the same path and we will not all have a path already cleared for us, but we are all able to create our own path. There will be obstacles ahead of us and there will be unexpected detours. What matters most is how you deal with it all. Never let a setback discourage you from your plans, dig deep and bounce back harder!!!!!!!!

Thank you Bianca for sharing your story.

Link to interview: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3dx5sgkjncbws48/Recording.m4a?dl=0